MAKING CLEAN ENERGY LOOK GOOD Wouter van Strien – CEO, Solar Visuals BV

Solar Visuals:

Making clean energy look good

Wouter van Strien, CEO at Solar Visuals

Tours Duo in Paris, designed by architect Jean Nouvel. Solar Visuals provided a gold colour monochrome design to match the building aesthetics. For this project, 1500m2 of Solar Visual’s panels were sold through partners AGC Active Glass and ISSOL

Presently, facades with built-in glass solar panels can be found in a variety of colors and designs. It is now possible to create an energy-generating façade with complete architectural freedom in terms of appearance, hues, textures, and sizes. Combining solar panels and custom façade cladding material into one product means the built environment can be simultaneously sustainable and aesthetically pleasing while also reducing the amount of materials needed for construction. Solar Visuals developed a patented method for incorporating design visuals and colours into a solar panel with the best available performance and aesthetics ratio. The panels are produced by its partners in the AGC Active Glass consortium. Several projects have been realized in Europe already in the growing market of building integrated photovoltaics (BiPV).

In accordance with the Paris Climate Accords, the EU aims to establish a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy by 2050. Particularly important to this goal is the building sector which currently accounts for 40% of total European energy consumption. This means that the share of renewable energy locally generated and self-consumed in buildings building must be markedly increased.

The most popular way to increase the generation of renewable energy in the built environment is to place solar panels on roofs. The amount of roof surface, however, is substantially smaller in densely populated urban areas than what is required for energy needs. Accordingly, for some time now, the accepted practice has been to install solar panels in high-rise building facades. The majority of these installations, however, have encountered opposition from architects and designers due to the subpar aesthetics of the blue and black solar panels. This prompted Solar Visuals to create a solution that integrated a solar panel with color versatility.

Solar Visuals was subcontractor for the active facade installation on the renovation of the TNO Solar laboratory. The triangle was optimized for performance and mimics the aluminium profile cladding. The TNO logo and artwork was also designed to be optimized for colour brightness. The total surface area of active facade is 110m2

This solution is distinct in that it offers a wider range of colors for glass printed technologies. The special dot grid pattern was created to provide a strong color experience when viewed from a distance, while only covering a small portion of the printed surface of the solar panel. Because color is a reflection of light, any visible image printed on a solar panel will reduce its efficiency. Thus, due to the low surface coverage, the power loss caused by the visible layer is minimized.

Blending in or standing out

Solar Visuals' ability to replicate the appearance of other building materials allows solar panels to almost disappear from view on building facades. The same color or pattern will be applied to each panel. The Tours Duo project is one illustration of this, as you will see from the detail below. The solar panels have the ability to both blend in and stand out. The entire façade or only a portion of it can be an artwork or company emblem, with each panel representing a single "pixel" of the overall design. The installation on the Shell Technology Center's Amsterdam façade serves as a recent illustration of this. In both instances, the general onlooker wouldn't be aware that these facades are also producing energy.

Blending in: Jean Nouvel’s Tours Duo

In order to maximize energy utilization and reduce the carbon footprint of the structures, Ateliers Jean Nouvel chose Solar Visuals' energygenerating façade panels for its project Tours Duo, two 180-meter and 125-meter high-rise buildings in Paris, that were finished in 2021. 825 Solar Visuals panels were used to cover the 1500 square meters of the building's exterior in a specially created "gold effect." The 1500 square meters of energy-generating cladding material and the 825-panels are divided between DUO-1 and DUO-2. These buildings are now a significant source of renewable energy generation as a result of this integrated building solution. Solar Visuals specifically created and crafted the Artlite Active Doré panels for this project.

The Artlite Active Doré panels used in the Tours Duo project are made of 4mm matte structural tempered glass with a matt anodized gold frame and produce 250Wp of power per panel by utilizing premium technology in the module: The monocrystalline cells blend aesthetics with outstanding performance and efficiency.

Together with other members of the AGC Active Glass SunEwat consortium, Solar Visuals and SOLSTYCE designed, installed, and supplied the panels. The grid layout created by Solar Visuals is utilized to achieve the ideal balance between the visuals and an optimal energy yield by partly covering the full black PV module, including the black busbars. In the case of Tour Duo's gold façade, viewing it up close reveals the Star pattern, while viewing it from a distance causes the human eye to perceive the gold façade as a whole.

Tours Duo, commissioned by global real estate company Ivanhoé Cambridge Europe, brings new office space, restaurants, retail, a hotel, and an auditorium to the 13e arrondissement on the east side of Paris.

“This project is about building the east side of Paris, its summit, its culminating point for the beginning of the century. It is also about creating a character, a singularity that is in relation with the reality of the site that reveals the particular beauty that relies on it to invent and strengthen the attractiveness of the place”, as released by Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

The commission by the renowned French architecture firm is an exciting new step for the Dutch renewable energy company and AGC’s Active Glass series.

“This project, in collaboration with an incredible team and partners, is the starting point of a future with endless possibilities for the aesthetic integration of solar panels in the built environment”, says Solar Visuals.

In each project, the glass composition and size are customized to meet required structural and aesthetic standards. The panels can be as large as 2m by 4m, and each glass pane can be as thick as 12mm. Any sort of AGC Glass structured or textured product can be utilized to create the required look and feel for the front glass sheet.

Standing out: A façade for Shell in Amsterdam and the ProRail Streetcabinet in Naarden-Bussum

The Solar Visuals panels were used to construct a bespoke design visualization on the southwest façade of the Shell Technology Centre. Every grid component of the project, which falls under Solar Visual's option "Branding," is finished and formatted with two

The Shell Technology Centre in Amsterdam utilized Solar Visual’s panels to incorporate their logo into the design. The total surface area is 140m2 and the panels were produced in partnership with AGC Active Glass and Soltech Project Management by Solar Visuals

rows of eight panels 680 x 1335 mm in size. Each grid segment uses icons in the company's corporate brand colors to communicate its sustainability goals. With the use of our special rasterization technique that covers the solar cell, we are able to produce full-color visuals that are great for branding a business while also reducing energy expenditures. 13.944 kWh are expected to be produced annually by the complete system.

Together with our partners AGC Active Glass and the architecture firm UNStudio, Solar Visuals created a modest building with a beautiful

historic feel for the Dutch railway infrastructure company ProRail at the Naarden-Bussum train station. It's fascinating to watch the rasterization pattern transform into a vintage image of the former station. The image is comprised of numerous bespoke solar panels that feature frosted reflection-reducing glass on their fronts. TNO is currently investigating the performance of the panels from all sides of the structure.

Optimizing the solar façade

During a project's design and engineering phase, Solar Visuals collaborates with the architects and engineers to optimize solar energy performance while balancing the needs for aesthetics and particular building characteristics.

Basic considerations include optimizing panel sizes to fit as many solar cells as possible onto the available surface and the color brightness. The areas that are fitted with Solar Visuals panels, however, should not be shadowed by other elements of the façade or of the building, such as balconies and louvres, for an optimized façade design. The majority of projects are erected as ventilated systems since ventilation

Dutch infrastructure company ProRail transformed a concrete electronics cabinet into a piece of art. Solar Visuals combined mat glass with mat aluminium for the areas that couldn’t be covered in glass solar panels. 36m2 of active area was covered

The European R&D centre JRC in Petten wanted a colourful design

is a crucial need for the solar façade. In most cases blind glued mounting systems are used, however, other glass façade mounting systems can be used as long as there is some rear ventilation in the system.

Performance of a solar façade

The energy yield of solar in a façade installation is, of course, lower than in a roof system, ranging from 25% less to 45 % less in south and east/west facing facades, respectively. A benefit of this type of installation is, however, the relatively high yield in the times of the day and year when the sun is lower in the sky,

The insolation diagram shows the relative energy yield in the different orientations on a building in the Netherlands. The energy yield of a Solar Visuals panel on the facade is only 20-25% less than a black solar panel on the same facade

Rooftop view of the gold coloured panels on the Tours Duo in Paris 190 kWh/m2/yr

145 kWh/m2/yr

115 kWh/m2/yr

meaning higher yield in the times when energy requirements are often greater. The premise behind this is to utilize them when there isn't enough roof space available.

In the solar insolation diagram below, this situation is depicted using a case study in the Netherlands where we see the maximum energy yield for a sloped roof facing south and various directions and inclinations of the panels. The energy yield per year for the more traditional south facing facade is 145 kWh/m2/year whereas the more aesthetic solution yields 115 kWh/m2/ year. With these figures, a multistory structure's total façade area typically suffices to meet the requirements for renewable energy generation in near-zero energy buildings.

Cost of the solar façade

A comparison of the various components of the entire installation is done in order to calculate the additional cost required to construct a solar façade as opposed to a non-active façade. In both cases, be it for a renovation or a new construction, a façade cladding material will be needed. Since common mounting systems are used for the installation of active solar façade cladding, the cost of the mounting system, engineering and labor are similar to those of a comparable non-active façade. Thus, the cost difference for solar installations is tied to the price difference between active and non-active panels as well as the additional cost of the electrical inverter system.

Any design is possible. Solar Visuals also developed designs with the illusion of depth and 3D effects

In some instances, the cost of the non-active material isn't all that different. Colored glass could have been used as an alternate nonactive material in the projects mentioned above. Standard colored glass costs between 150 and 250 euros per square meter more than Solar Visuals energy-producing façade panels. A typical electrical system costs between 50 and 75 euros per square meter. The return on investment (ROI) for rendering the façade active at an additional cost of 200 to 325 euros per square meter depends on the local cost of electricity and the project's unique energy yield, but is normally between 10 and 20 years. Meeting the requirements for the “near zero energy buildings” target of the Paris Climate Accords can even be a good investment!

Making cities and buildings climate neutral by 2030

Solar Visuals fills a gap in the existing market of traditional solar panels. With the Paris Climate Agreement, the building industry will be confronted with huge challenges: in order to create a built environment that is energy neutral by 2030, 7 million houses and 1 million buildings in the Netherlands will need to be renovated and equipped with solar panels so that they can provide their own energy. This will have a huge visual impact on the built environment and demands new products and building integrated solutions like Solar Visuals.

Close-up detail of the design pattern on a solar cell

Designs can be made to have each panel symmetrical for seamless facade design with a single or unique design for each one

Rectangular pattern

Radial pattern

Star pattern

Power: Optimized (Ca. 172 Wp/m2) Power: Medium (Ca. 160 Wp/m2)

Power: Base (Ca. 145 Wp/m2)

The unique patented dot grid pattern in different variations and surface coverage percentages to optimize for aesthetics or performance

The application of this cladding material in the façades and surfaces of buildings creates opportunities for energy production in the built environment on a large scale. With this technology buildings in the future will become batteries that provide the energy needed for their own use and more. Their full-colour design prints make the Solar Visuals panels not only smart and efficient but also visually attractive.

Glass solar panels are extremely durable. The Solar Visuals pattern is inserted behind the glass during the assembly process

Solar Visuals

Solar Visuals was founded in 2018 by the international architectural firm UNStudio, arch tech company UNSense, the Dutch printing specialist TS Visuals and Dutch Research institute TNO. The colour technology of Solar Visuals was developed in an R&D project by these companies and other partners from 2016-2018. For the production and distribution Solar Visuals partnered with AGC Active Glass in the SunEwat consortium. This means that the Solar Visuals product is being sold with warranties, guarantees and certification by AGC Glass under the name Artlite Active. At the same time Solar Visuals has become the representative of AGC Active Glass full product range in the Netherlands.

Wouter van Strien

After achieving his MSc in applied physics his graduation in 2006 Wouter van Strien started his career at ECN Solar Energy as a junior researcher, but soon changed his role to technology transfer consultant. In this role, he installed production processes developed at ECN SE in solar cells and solar panel production lines around the world, often in cooperation with Dutch and German machine builders. From 2012 to 2019 Wouter van Strien worked as business developer and business development manager at ECN SE and TNO Solar Energy. In this role he started working in the field of integrated photovoltaics and helped start Solar Visuals out of TNO. In 2019, together with an investor, he started the company Roofon that focused on the development and sale of various solar roof tiles to consumers. His focus in this was mainly on product development and sales. After that, he became the director of Solar Visuals in 2020.